If I were in Ravenclaw...
by Elementary98
Disclaimer: For the disclaimer, check out Chapter 1 - An introduction to magic
Chapter 3 - Diagon Alley
"Wow!" After vomitting heavily, I looked around, taking in all the people with those weird pointed hats and the many stores. "Anyway, that wasn't nice, you can't just do that without a warning!", I said, glaring at my future professor. But he just snorted and shook his head. "Do I strike you as", he sneered, "nice?"
I tilted my head. "I tend to believe in the good side of people. Sometimes it's hard to believe there is one, sir, but I already found yours, so yes, one part of you is nice and doesn't want to show it. What a bummer, you could be much more popular within society if you gave it a try. What made you so grumpy, anyway? Your girlfriend or your wife died, that's the reason, am I right, sir?"
One of Snape's eyes twitched angrily. "No. Let's go to Gringotts now, you need to exchange money in order to buy anything around here." Well, seems like he doesn't want to talk about it now. I'll ask again later.
"Okay", I replied happily, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards what looked like a huge bank. The man started at the touch, but followed quietly. Only after pulling away first, of course.
"What are they, sir?", I asked quietly, looking up at my companion. "Goblins", he replied just as quietly, "I'll do the talking, don't say anything, You'd only get us in trouble."
He stepped towards what looked like an old, important goblin, and cleared his throat. When the goblin looked up, Snape gave a slight sneer and pointed towards me. "She wants to exchange money. What's the current exchange rate?" The goblin returned the sneer before he gave us the answer.
I pulled out some money. "Alright then, this should work for a small shopping trip in Diagon Alley, right?"
When we were done and I was the proud owner of many many galleons, knuts and sickles, I turned around again as we were exiting the building. I looked at the goblin, at Snape and back again. "What?", Snape sighed, knowing I was close to saying something again. "Are you guys related? You and the goblin, I mean. This sneer must be hereditary."
After getting my wand (13 1/4 inches, Applewood with core of Dragon heartstring, hard), I actually wanted to go to a bookstore next, but Professor Snape insisted on getting potions ingredients first. A very bad idea, as he found out two minutes ago. I had been buggering him with questions, such as 'What is this?' or 'Why is that like it is?'. My favourite question remained: "Where do you hide that stuff from muggles?"
Snape was so annoyed that we directly left after getting myself the neccessary ingredients and stuff. He didn't even bother looking for stuff he might need. That probably meant a lot.
Next, we bought the school books (finally!) and I spent 3 and a half hours searching for more interesting books. In the end, I bought so many books Professor Snape had to help me carry alll of them. He actually hadn't wanted to do that, but when I nearly ran into the Minister of Magic because I, quite literally, didn't see him, Snape decided he needed to help me.
Next in line was Madam Malkin's. The moment Professor Snape and I came in, two boys were exchanging awkward conversation. "Hi there!", I said cheerfully, interrupting their conversation. "I'm so excited! I've never been to a British wizarding school before, how does it work?"
The blonde boy gave a slight sneer, but it vanished as he thought about the way my accent (if I actually had one, that is) was different. I couldn't be too sure about that, but he looked like a pureblood. Not that I could actually recognize people's blood status, no, he just seemed quite used to the magic-stuff. He could just as well be a halfblood.
I thought about what Professor Snape had said earlier. Muggleborns, shameful. Maybe the boy had automatically thought I was a muggleborn. Well, not saying I wasn't.
"You are from a different country, then?", the boy asked, perking up. "Where do you come from? What's your family name? Maybe my father knows your parents!"
I rolled my eyes. "I doubt that. I'm from Germany, the only other family member being able to speak English is my father, and he's not good at it. I'm Julia Brandtstetter, by the way."
The blonde sneered again, but the other boy seemed to be quite shy and didn't react at all. Weird. "Brandtstetter? That sounds like a muggle family name. Surely that can't be right. I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. I'm a pureblood, obviously." Nose held high, he offered his hand. "It might be of advantage if we get acquainted with each other. Good for pureblood family business, you know?"
I looked at his hand, than directly into his face, my light blue eyes drilling into his. "Brandtstetter is a muggle family name, and I'm proud to carry it. We could still be friends if you want to, but I'm neither a half- nor a pureblood, and I'm not sorry for it. If you want to be friends with me, I expect you to accept that."
Draco Malfoy faltered slightly. Then he made his decision. "Why would I want to be friends with a mudblood?", he asked, sneering.
Malfoy's clothing was finished first, and he stepped out without saying another word. I quickly looked over to the other boy, trying to forget about what Malfoy had just said. The word 'mudblood' seemed to be something bad, because Professor Snape had nearly glared at Malfoy.
"Hi. First time at Diagon Alley too?", I asked quietly, locking eyes with the boy that seemed hesistant to look at anyone. "I'm so excited, I bought soo many books to find out more about this world. You know, I'm muggleborn, my parents aren't magical, so I didn't know anything about magic until the letter came. What about you?"
The other boy smiled slightly. "Same here. But my parents were magical, I think. At least that's what I was told." He looked out of the window, where a huge man had appeared, holding ice cream in his hands. "That's Hagrid, he told me about my parents and magic." Hagrid grinned happily, waving at both of us.
"He looks nice", I replied. "He works at Hogwarts, then? Professor Snape does." I nodded towards the Professor, who seemed to stare at the boy's forehead. He was sneering deeply. "He's quite grumpy", I whispered. "I haven't found out why yet."
The other boy grinned. "Yes, Hagrid works at Hogwarts too. He's not a teacher or something, though. I think he's... some kind of gamekeeper, I don't really know right now. It's so mysterious to me. How did they hide this world from me?"
I grinned back. "That's what I'm asking myself as well. What's your name, anyway?"
The boy's robes were finished and he grabbed his stuff. "I'm Harry Potter", he said casually, waving goodbye as he went out of the store. "See you at Hogwarts!"
A very nice guy. This year would be quite awesome, I could already imagine that.